From the document EP 0 642 828 A1, a vessel arrangement is known wherein the vessels are disposed along a circle and are interconnected via flexible connecting webs so that it is possible to press the vessels into the boreholes of an incubator even if the vessel position does not correspond completely to the positions of the boreholes in the incubator, as a result of production or temperature conditions. The number of vessels that can be flexibly connected in this way is limited, however, and any increase in the number of vessels results in a considerable increase in the space requirements.
A two-dimensional arrangement of vessels is known from EP 0 836 884 A2.
Particularly for the performance of polymerase chain reactions, and also for other incubation and thermocycling processes, in order to avoid contamination it is important that the vessels should be closed. In this connection it has been found difficult to produce a two-dimensional lid arrangement which would function approximately like the lid arrangement shown in document EP 0 642 828 A1.
The document WO 01/17682 A1 already discloses a two-dimensional arrangement of closure elements in the form of a continuous mat. However, it has been found disadvantageous for the vessel arrangement according to the invention if the closure elements are connected via a flexible mat. The main reason for this is that the flexibility between two adjacent closures is not sufficient to enable individual vessels to be closed separately.